Here is the first thing you need to know: It would do almost nothing to reduce the scandalously high number of Americans who have no insurance. And it makes only a token stab at slowing the relentlessly rising costs of medical care.

The AP also has an interesting Q&A with 84-year-old Hank Greenberg, the former CEO -- during far less turbulent times -- of insurance conglomerate American International Group (AIG). From it:

This whole theory of too big to fail should be tested and examined. I don't think we've had a dialogue on that subject. It seems to me that they are very selective on who you permit to survive and who you permit to fail. And if the cost of survival is so huge, I don't see what you gain from it. We have a Chapter 11 (bankruptcy), which permits a company to declare Chapter 11, and be reorganized and go back into business again. That to me seems what we've lived with for many years and I don't see why it's not something that has been used more.

If you've got the time, take a look at this extensive NY Times Magazine story about efforts to make medicine less costly -- and it starts with an interesting revelation about the history of medine.